Malegaon blasts case: Special court likely to pronounce verdict on July 31
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday asked all seven accused in the September 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case to appear before it on July 31 when the verdict in the matter is likely to be pronounced. Special judge AK Lahoti said the case was voluminous and required more time. Former BJP parliamentarian Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the case, leaving the special court in 2018. (PTI/File)
The hearings in the case concluded on April 19 after the prosecution and defence submitted their final written arguments. The special judge, who has been transferred out of Mumbai, was given an extension until August 31, as only the judgement remained to be pronounced.
The verdict is expected 17 years after two bombs concealed in motorcycles exploded near a mosque in a Muslim-majority area during fasting month of Ramzan in Malegaon, about 200 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008, killing six people and injuring 101 others. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) probed the case before it was transferred to the NIA in 2011.
Muslim youths were arrested in the case before the matter took a turn when the ATS said it uncovered evidence pointing to Hindu groups. The NIA said the attack was aimed at provoking communal unrest and triggering retaliatory violence.
The accused Pragya Singh Thakur, a former ruling Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian from 2019 to 2024, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni were charged under Indian Penal Code sections, including sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 295 (injuring or defiling places of worship) and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosives Act.
Special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal said that the prosecution presented overwhelming evidence, including eyewitness accounts about the accused placing the bombs, forensic links connecting the explosives Purohit allegedly obtained through his military network, and intercepted calls about the bombing logistics. He told the court that this was a meticulously planned act of terror designed to divide communities. Rasal insisted that the intent behind the attack and the deliberate targeting of Muslims warranted the death penalty.
Advocate Shrikant Shivade-led defence called the case politically motivated and alleged procedural flaws and fabricated evidence. He said key witnesses retracted their statements, raising doubts. Shivade argued that the evidence was unreliable. He said the accused were falsely implicated.
The attack survivors and relatives of those killed have expressed their dismay over the delay in justice delivery. In October 2024, they urged the NIA court to hand down the maximum sentence (death penalty) to all seven accused, claiming that the prosecution had proved the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The trial in the case began in October 2018. The prosecution concluded the evidence presentation against the accused in September 2023 after examining 323 witnesses. The court recorded the statements of the seven accused under the Criminal Procedure Code's Section 313.
Purohit and Chaturvedi examined witnesses in their defence. The examination of defence witnesses was concluded in July 2024.
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